In brief: Schools schedule weather holiday payback

The first makeup day for winter weather in the Memphis City Schools will be April 5, the day after Easter.

May 24 and 25 are also makeup days.

Schools will open at their regularly scheduled time. Students are to remain in school the entire day.

Bus services will operate as normally scheduled, including after-school and activity buses.

For details, contact your child's school or consult the district's Web site, mcsk12.net.

— Jane Roberts

Memphis

Blaze damages apartment units

Memphis firefighters battled a fire at the Country Squire Apartments near Walnut Grove and Germantown Parkway on Thursday.

Fire officials at the scene said no one was injured in the fire, but it was an intense blaze. Smoke could be seen from as far away as Baptist Memorial Hospital.

The fire was in a building on the west end of the complex overlooking a fountain that drains into a lake adjacent to Germantown Parkway.

The most damaged area appeared to be on the top floor of the three-story building. Significant damage also was evident on a second-floor patio area.

— Clay Bailey

Memphis

City to register summer camp

The city of Memphis will begin early registration for its summer camp program this weekend.

To register, go to the Memphis Community Center you want your child to attend, Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.

More than 2,100 campers are expected to attend 25 camps throughout the city this year, including one camp for special needs children. Campers will attend field trips and participate in recreational, athletic and educational activities.

The price for city residents is $162 per child, or $81 per child on verified government assistance.

Proof of residency must be supported with two of the following documents: Utility bill within 30 days, city of Memphis tax bill or a bank statement within 30 days. The fee for nonresidents is $324 per child. No cash will be accepted and payment is to be made by money order or cashier's check only.

Parents who enroll their children during early registration have the option to pay in full and have a guaranteed spot, or pay half of the total fees and have a guaranteed spot for 30 days. The balance of partial payments must be received on or before regular registration begins April 24.

For more information on summer camp, call 576-4203 or visit memphistn.gov and follow the link to Summer Camp 2010.

— Amos Maki

Memphis

Court advocates seek volunteers

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Memphis and Shelby County is looking for volunteers to help plant white stakes with blue ribbons in recognition of April's National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The stakes are part of the Light of Hope Awareness project and will be planted in the Victorian Village Park across from Shelby County Juvenile Court, which is at 1616 Adams. Stakes will be planted Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.

Each year CASA plants a stake to represent an abused or neglected child who went through the Juvenile Court system without a CASA advocate. You can also sponsor a stake for $10.

To volunteer or donate, contact CASA at 522-0200 or go to memphiscasa.org.

— Linda A. Moore

Memphis

Women at work focus of forum

A forum on the role of women in the workforce sponsored by Women of Achievement will be 3-5 p.m. Sunday at the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis.

Called "Women, Wages and Work: Breaking Barriers, Paying Our Way," the forum will deal with job development and training and the kinds of legislation or policies women need to be campaigning for, said Deborah Clubb, founder of Women of Achievement.

Clubb said women have become the majority in the workforce. "That means more and more families are depending on breadwinners whose wages are not always the best."

Panelists at the free forum at 1900 Union are Teri Craven, union representative for Local 1529 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union; Rev. Rebekah Jordan-Gienapp, who led the Workers Interfaith Network campaign for a living wage for city and county workers; Independent Bank founder Susan Stephenson; and Linda Williams of the RISE Foundation.

— Michael Lollar

Briefly...

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton is endorsing Jackson businessman Mike McWherter, a Democrat, for governor, according to a statement issued Thursday by McWherter's campaign. Wharton had backed state Sen. Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, for the Democratic nomination but Kyle withdrew.